ERIC Number: ED452185
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 2000-Nov-2
Pages: 49
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Connecting Community through Evaluation.
Rudy, Dennis W.
This paper describes HealthWorks! Kids' Museum, an education center designed to help K-8 students understand and make healthy lifestyle choices. The museum includes an exhibit floor, interactive classrooms, a teacher resource room, and interactive exhibits for children. These exhibits include the Main Brain theater, the Skin Crawl Wall, and All About Me computer sections. The museum works with students and teachers to improve health education in and out of school. It strives to impact parents and community members as well as children and to ultimately improve the health of the community by addressing the public's knowledge, behavior, and attitudes about health. A longitudinal evaluation is assessing the program. It involves multiple stakeholders, multiple goals, multiple data sources, and formative and summative analysis. To date, evaluations indicate that students consider the museum experience fun; teachers, parents, and community members have increased awareness and knowledge of health issues through participation; and the goal of a planned program of interactive, meaningful health education curricula and instruction has been realized. Next steps include continuing data collection and formative analysis; beginning summative analysis; and designing program indicators and benchmarks for longitudinal measures reflecting overall community health. (SM)
Publication Type: Reports - Descriptive; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: HealthWorks! Kids' Museum, South Bend, IN.
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A
Note: Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the AEA (November 2, 2000).